All You Thought You Left Behind
by Katriona
Summary: Sequel to "Now That You're Gone". Piper's family is together again, and she couldn't be happier. Until, that is, she realizes that she can't outrun her demons - figuratively and literally speaking. More detailed summary inside - please review.
1. Default Chapter

All You Thought You Left Behind  
  
Sequel to "Now That You're Gone", here by popular demand. Please, read and review that fic before reading this one (don't worry, it's pretty short).  
  
Summary: Set one year after NTYG. Piper, Leo, Phoebe, Paige, Wyatt, and Lin are still living in New York. None of them has used magic since leaving San Fransisco. Piper's family is together again, and she couldn't be happier. Until, that is, she realizes that she can't outrun her demons - figuratively and literally speaking.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Piper, Leo, Phoebe, Paige, or Wyatt. Lin, Ananda, Darvy, and anyone else not from the show are mine.  
  
A/N: Just to clear up a bit of confusion regarding Lin's powers - Before Piper left San Fransisco with Wyatt, she bound both of their powers. Although she didn't know it at the time, she was pregnant with Lin, so the potion bound the baby's powers, too. Neither Lin nor Wyatt know anything about their family's magical past. Also, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige never sold the manor out of respect for family tradition (it's been in their family for generations), but Piper has never been able to go back there, and Phoebe and Paige rarely go, either.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
"Wyatt Matthew and Prudence Melinda, get down here before you're late for school!" Piper called up the stairs. It was a typical day in the Halliwell-Wyatt household. Leo, who in the past year had managed to become the unofficial town handy-man, was already fixing a sink next door, where Piper's close friend and surrogate grandmother, Ananda, lived. Phoebe and Paige were in the kitchen, preparing for breakfast with their sister, niece, and nephew as per usual. The cabin-like house Piper had bought when she'd first moved to New York hadn't been large enough for the entire Halliwell clan, but Piper's other next-door neighbors had been looking to sell their house for some time, and so Phoebe and Paige now resided there, though they spent as much time at their sister's house as at their own.  
  
Seven-year-old Wyatt ran past his mother, his auburn hair flying into his face as he jumped over the last few steps. Six-year-old Lin eagerly followed her brother, though she was less brave than he in the stair-jumping bit. The brother and sister skidded into the kitchen, Wyatt hurtling into Phoebe's arms and Lin jumping into Paige's.  
  
"Aunt Phoebe, do I hafta go to school?" Wyatt asked pleadingly. "Why can't I just stay home with you and Mommy and Aunt Paige?"  
  
"Hey, if Wyatt doesn't go to school, I'm not going neither!" Lin declared.  
  
"You're both going to school," Piper insisted from the doorway. "Now hurry up and eat, because Nana will be here to pick you up in five minutes."  
  
Wyatt pouted, but Lin just shrugged. "I like school," she said, taking a sip of orange juice.  
  
"That's because you're just a first-grader," her brother replied, rolling his eyes. "You don't get as many tests, and you're work mostly involves staying in the lines with your coloring books."  
  
"Nuh-uh," Lin countered. "We get spelling tests and adding and subtracting and we only color in art class."  
  
"You think your work is hard?" Wyatt scoffed. "Okay, smart one, what's five times five?"  
  
Lin frowned. "That's not fair, Wyatt, I won't learn that until I'm your age."  
  
"Exactly," he said triumphantly.  
  
"Okay, Wyatt, what's six times seven?" Piper asked to even the score between her two children.  
  
Wyatt thought for a minute, then shrugged.  
  
"Thought so," said his mother. "When you get home, we're going over those multiplication tables."  
  
"Come on, Mom," the little boy whined. "I was gonna go play basketball with Brennan."  
  
"You can do that on the weekend," Piper told him firmly.  
  
Wyatt sighed, knowing there would be no arguing his way out of it. Phoebe and Paige exchanged small smiles, appreciating this nice, normal family exchange. It never ceased to amaze them that, after everything they'd been through, they were now just a regular family, hardly any different from anyone else in the small, close-knit town.  
  
Their momentary reflection was interrupted by Phoebe's cell phone going off. "Hello? ...Wait, what? ...But why..? ...Okay, okay, I'll be right there." She sighed, hanging up. "That was Jason. Somebody called out, he needs me to work today."  
  
When Phoebe had quit her job at the Bay Mirror to move to New York with Paige, Jason had offered her a new job at a small paper he'd just bought out east. Her column was still syndicated in both the New York and San Fransisco areas, but she hadn't been working nearly as much as she had at the Mirror. That changed, however, when Jason moved to New York in order to have more hands-on control of the paper.  
  
"Again, Pheebs?" Piper questioned. "You worked overtime every day last week. This waas supposed to be your day off." Her eyes suddenly narrowed suspiciously. "Hey, you Jason aren't getting back together are you? I mean, you'd tell us something like that, right?"  
  
Phoebe started to shake her head, then stopped and sighed. "The truth? I don't know. I mean, ever since he came back from Hong Kong things were kinda weird between us, and then when he gave me this new job, it got stranger than ever because it's like this is the one thing that hasn't changed, and it's gotten bad enough that I'm actually considering writing to myself."  
  
Her sisters giggled. "Honey, breathe," Paige advised. "Now, did you try talking to him?"  
  
"No," Phoebe admitted. "I thought it might be... weird..." Seeing the irony in her own train of thought, she added, "But not as weird as leaving things the way they are. I'll talk to him. But first I have to actually be there, because if I get fired then talking to him is going to be really awkward. Wyatt, Lin, I'll drop you guys off at school on my way, so finish eating."  
  
The kids nodded and started chewing. Just then, Nana came in with Leo, praising him for the great job he'd done fixing her sink.  
  
"Hey, stranger," Piper greeted, getting a kiss from her husband. "Sit down. You left this morning before I had time to cook breakfast."  
  
"I've only got a few minutes," he replied, grabbing a plate. "Some kids got bored and trashed the awning in front of the grocery store. I promised Kurt I'd help him fix it."  
  
Piper and Nana exchanged rolling eyes. In addition to owning the grocery store as well as several other properties he rented out to community businesses, Kurtis Mahoney was the mayor. Like most of the town's residents, Kurt was a bit eccentric, as well as a bit of a control freak, which often made him the target of local kids' pranks.  
  
"Okay, and I have to leave, like, now. Oh, you don't have to take the kids to school, Nana, I'll do it," Phoebe said. "You guys ready?"  
  
"No," Wyatt grumbled. He and his sister grabbed their backpacks, kissed their parents good-bye, and ran out the door. Phoebe was right behind them, barely pausing at the door to say good-bye to her family.  
  
Paige was the next to go. Unlike Phoebe, she hadn't been able to find a job as a social worker close enough to commute every day, so instead she'd gone back to school to become a kindergarten teacher. She took classes at the closest community college, a forty-minute drive away. "I've got a test today," she said, grimancing as she got up. "I can so relate to Wyatt right now."  
  
Piper smiled. "Oh, so that's where he got it from," she joked.  
  
Paige grinned. "I gotta go. See you guys later."  
  
"Good luck, dear," Nana said.  
  
Paige waved them off, then scurried out the door. Leo left a few minutes later. Piper and Nana sat down at the kitchen table, enjoying the rare quiet.  
  
"Okay," Nana started, "What's up with you?" Piper started to protest that she didn't know what the older woman was talking about, but Nana interrupted her. "Don't give me that, Piper. You think I can't tell when something's wrong? You've been acting strange lately. Talk to me about it."  
  
Piper sighed. Nana knew her better than anyone, aside from her husband, sisters, and kids. She was like family, and Piper felt she could talk to her about anything, so she began. "Okay. You're right, there is something up. But I haven't talked with Leo or my sisters yet, so promise not to say anything to them." Nana nodded, and Piper continued, taking a deep breath. "I think I might be pregnant." 


	2. Chapter 2

Nana, as usual, jumped right to the point. "Doll, that's wonderful. But when are you going to find out for sure?"  
  
Piper, doing her best to adopt her friend's 'first-thing's-first' attitiude, just shrugged. "As soon as possible. I don't want to tell Leo until I know definately one way or the other."  
  
"Have you at least bought a test?" Nana asked.  
  
Piper shook her head. "I've been too nervous. And now Leo's going to be outside the grocery store all day, so he'll see me if I go into the pharmacy."  
  
Nana bit her lip, a plan formulating in her bright-orange head. "Okay, so you won't go. We'll get Darvy over here, and she'll go in and get it for you. She's got three kids, nobody would question her going into a drug store."  
  
Piper, biting back the urge to laugh, nodded. Nana called Darvy, and fifteen minutes later, Piper's other best friend was at the back door, paper drug-store bag in hand.  
  
"Oh my God," she giggled, letting herself in and leaning down to give Piper a hug. "This is so great. Assuming you're happy about it. You are happy about it, right?"  
  
"I'm not sure," Piper confessed. "I mean, on one hand, yeah, I'd love to have another baby. But Leo and I have only been back together for a year, and, I mean, do you think we're ready for this?"  
  
"Well, there's only one way to find out," Darvy said, pushing the bag into Piper's hands.  
  
Piper looked at it for a minute, then shook her head. "I can't. I'm too nervous."  
  
"Well, dear, would you rather wait nine months and be surprised?" Nana questioned. Piper and Darvy burst out laughing.  
  
"Okay, okay," Piper conceded, getting up. "I'm going, I'm going."  
  
Clutching the bag, she slipped into the bathroom. When she came out again, Darvy set the kitchen timer for three minutes, following the instructions on the box. They waited without a word until the silence was broken by the beeping of the timer.  
  
"I can't look," Piper said, wringing her hands.  
  
"Come on, honey, we'll go with you," Darvy prompted.  
  
The three women crowded into the bathroom, with Piper in between her two friends. Squeezing both their hands, she peeked down at the pregnancy test. It was positive.  
  
"Oh my God," Piper said, her face breaking into a huge grin. In a second, she was enveloped by Darvy and Nana hugging her.  
  
After a while, they went back into the kitchen. Piper started doing the dishes, a habitual de-stressing that even after all these years, she still hadn't managed to break. Nana and Darvy, both aware of this coping method, became worried.  
  
"Honey, what's wrong?" Darvy asked, gently prying her best friend away from the sink. "Talk to us."  
  
Piper sighed. "I have to tell Leo, don't I?"  
  
"Well, doll, I expect he'll want to know," Nana said reasonably. "Especially a year or so from now, when he finds that little one crawling around his house."  
  
Piper laughed, picturing Leo one day discovering that there was a baby in the house. "I have to tell Leo," she affirmed. "But how? I haven't done this in over seven years."  
  
"Well, do you remember how you told him about Wyatt?" Darvy questioned.  
  
Piper did remember, but since she couldn't exactly tell Nana and Darvy that the Angel of Destiny just happened to drop by and tell them both, she just shrugged. "It was so long ago. Everything from back then just seems to blur together." She glanced at the clock. It was almost nine-thirty. "Well, whatever I'm going to tell him, I have to figure it out soon. He'll be home for lunch in two hours. I'll tell him then, since with the kids and Paige at school and Phoebe at work, it'll probably be the only time we'll have the house to ourselves."  
  
"Would you like us to wait with you?" Nana offered.  
  
"That's okay," Piper said, shaking her head. "I should probably use the time to clean the place up, and plan out what I'm going to say to him. I want everything to be perfect."  
  
Darvy and Nana each hugged her good-bye, and, after promising to be right next door in case she needed anything, left her alone. Piper watched them go, then went back to clearing the kitchen table of that morning's breakfast dishes, She was almost finished when a plate slipped from her soapy, slippery hands. Piper gasped, bracing herself for the shattering glass, but there was no sound. Even more alarming was what Piper saw when she dared to look.  
  
The plate was frozen in mid-air. 


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh my God," Piper breathed, taking a step back, absently wrapping her arms around her stomach. "I know I didn't do that," she said. Then, looking down at her stomach, she wondered, "Did you do that?"  
  
She looked around, acertaining that she was alone. She was. There was no other explanation. It had to have been the baby.  
  
"Your Daddy's not going to like this," Piper said nervously, reaching out for the plate. She had no idea how long the freeze would last, but she couldn't stop it herself. "Okay, baby, unfreeze it," she prodded. Nothing happened. "Come on, honey, unfreeze the plate for Mommy, please?"  
  
She felt a twinge, and then the plate fell into her hands. Surprised, she nearly dropped it. Steadying it with both arms, she placed it gently into the sink, then hurried back around the kitchen table, leaning on it for support. She couldn't believe what had just happened. She needed to get away, go somewhere. She needed some time to think.  
  
Piper went upstairs and started packing, but paused when her suitcase was half full, and sat down on the bed. "This isn't right," she whispered, tears forming in her eyes. She'd suddenly realized why this all seemed so familiar. She'd been preparing to do the exact same thing she'd done seven years ago, after Leo left. She'd been about to run away.  
  
"But he's here now," she said, talking to both herself and her baby. "He's not going to leave again. He can't. He's mortal now. But then, I was supposed to be mortal now, too..." She sighed, and leaned back so she was lying down, her legs hanging over the edge of the bed. She stared up at the ceiling, trying to sort things out, but she couldn't think clearly. Eventually, she fell asleep.  
  
Piper woke up to the sound of Leo's pick-up truck pulling into the driveway. She quickly pulled a comb through her hair, then ran downstairs to tell him the news. She met him at the door, and ushered him inside, sitting him down on the couch.  
  
"Honey, what is it?" he asked, laughing a little at her nervousness.  
  
She sat down next to him, and started playing with his hands absently. Inhaling slowly, she began. "Um, well, there's something I have to tell you, and I hope you'll be happy about it... I'm pregnant."  
  
It took a second for him to register what she'd just said, but when it did, his face broke into a big smile, and he pulled her onto his lap, hugging her tightly. "Of course I'm happy about it. This is wonderful."  
  
She forced a smile, but she couldn't fully relax. There was something she still hadn't told him yet. "So you're really excited about having another baby?" she pressed.  
  
He nodded, and kissed her. "I love you so much. I'm thrilled, really. This is just... wow. I can't wait to hold the baby. I wonder if it's a boy or girl."  
  
"Girl," Piper replied, sounding so sure that Leo couldn't help looking at her questioningly. "The baby's a girl. She has to be. Because you're not a Whitelighter anymore, and magic only runs through the females in my line."  
  
She paused, waiting anxiously for his reaction. She was almost afraid of what he'd say next. He noticed, and did his best to be reassuring. "Honey, are you telling me that our baby is...?"  
  
Piper nodded. "Yeah. This morning, right after I found out I was pregnant, I was in the kitchen, cleaning up, doing normal things to try and clear my head, you know? I was kindof... I don't know, freaked, I guess, and my hands were shaking, and I dropped a plate, and it froze right before it hit the ground. She froze it."  
  
He leaned back, his arms still around her. "How is that possible? You're not a witch anymore."  
  
Piper nodded. "I was wondering that, myself. I've been thinking about it, though, and it kinda makes sense. When I left San Fransisco, I bound my powers, and Wyatt's. Since I was pregnant with Lin at the time, it bound her powers, too. It also bound Paige and Phoebe's powers automatically, because you can't take away one Charmed One's powers without taking away them all. But we never actually said the relinquishing spell, so technically our powers are still part of us, we just can't use them."  
  
"...And you can still pass them on to the next generation," Leo finished, pulling her closer.  
  
"Are you mad?" she asked, leaning against him.  
  
He shook his head. "Of course not. You couldn't have known this would happen. Hey, we'll deal with this. I'm not sure how yet, but we'll figure it out."  
  
Piper nodded, but suddenly started crying. "I'm sorry," she said, trying to calm herself. "It's just that I tried so hard to keep our kids away from magic, but it just isn't enough, and now it seems like we can't ever get away."  
  
"So maybe we should stop trying," he mused, wiping a tear from her eye. "Maybe it's time we go back."  
  
"Go back... to San Fransisco?" Piper questioned.  
  
He nodded. "Why not? We've tried everything else. Maybe we can't protect our kids from this. Maybe it's time they learn who they are, what they'll become. I'm not saying we should go back permanently. Just for a litle while, to try and tie up loose ends."  
  
"Maybe there's something in the Book of Shadows that'll help us end this, once and for all," Piper said hopefully. They'd left the Book behind when they'd moved to New York, and the elderly couple who was renting the manor from them didn't have a key to the attic. Piper knew that the only way to find out for sure was to go back.  
  
"So are we going?" Leo asked.  
  
Piper nodded, inhaling sharply. "Yeah," she said, "We're going." 


End file.
